New Orleans Box Sale Meal

Couldn't think of anything to make for dinner. Had to be chicken cause that was the only thawed meat in the house. Nothing sounded spectacular to me, AND I had a time crunch cause we had a long morning which led to a late nap, which led to a late wake up time, so dinner preparation was crunched.

I look in the pantry, see the box of Tony's Cacheres Red Beans and Rice so that sounds pretty good. And us being from New Orleans, I knew that J would like that. Wish I had some sausage to put in it, but had to make due with chicken.

Boil the one large chicken breast for about 20 min. whilst preparing the red beans and rice. Get that going and decide to add more rice cause I like it thick, not soupy. When the chicken is ready I cut it up and put it in to simmer with the rest of the seasonings for the remainder of its cook time.

Then...what goes with red beans and rice. Well, greens, of which I have none. AND corn bread. Now this I can do! I've never made cornbread in the iron skillet before but it is my favorite way, so I decide to give it a try. I pull out the package of Martha White Corn Meal that I also got at the box sale. I follow the recipe and voila! It comes out perfectly!

M helped the whole time which I enjoy but find somewhat frustrating when I'm in a bit of a hurry. Still I know she loves to cook with her mom so I really can't complain.

Then I had to make tea, cause you can't have that kind of cooking without tea! wish I'd had something green, but oh well. Good thing we do vitamins! Ha!

Seriously, when all is said and done I swear the entire meal cost less that $2 total AND we had left overs! alot! So hey I fed my family for about a dollar tonight! That's what I'm saying. Course you'll have to add in the hot dog that M opted for after trying the red beans and rice. I was proud cause at least she tried it...and several bites too.